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Harare – Zimbabwe's former vice president Joice Mujuru has advised under fire Deputy President Emmerson Mnangagwa to quit following recent attacks by President Robert Mugabe and his wife Grace, a report says.

According to The Standard, Mujuru urged the embattled vice president to join the ranks of opposition parties in dislodging Mugabe in the upcoming 2018 polls.

"As for Ngwena [Mnangagwa], it's time to resign and openly join colleagues in the trenches of the electoral battle against this ill-fated dynasty. Free advice Cde [Mnangagwa] is that no matter how you hope to continue putting lipstick on a frog hoping that it will become a queen, it won't.

"At least such a courageous act would redeem some semblance of honour and dignity to Ngwena if at all any still remains," Mujuru was quoted as saying.

'The Gushungo dynasty'

Mujuru said that the on-going attacks against Mnangagwa and his supporters were "a free lesson" to all willing to learn the politics where Mugabe and his wife only used their supporters when it suited the conditions of "the Gushungo dynasty".

This came after recent reports claimed that the Mugabes accused Mnangagwa of fanning factionalism within the ruling Zanu-PF party.

For the first time in public, the Mugabes accused Mnangagwa of leading a faction calling itself "Team Lacoste" that was angling to take over power from the veteran leader when he eventually left office.

Another faction made up of young Turks calling itself Generation 40 was reportedly backing First Lady to torpedo Mnangagwa's presidential ambition.

Mujuru's exit from Zanu-PF

First to fire the salvo on Mnangagwa in front of thousands of party supporters who gathered at Chipadze Stadium for the 8th Presidential Youth Interface rally was the First Lady, who challenged the deputy president to rein in his supporters whom she accused of insulting the presidency in their quest to succeed her husband.

Grace Mugabe was also the leading architecture of Mujuru's exit from the ruling Zanu-PF party and government in 2014.

Following the First Lady’s rallies, Mujuru was fired from both Mugabe’s government and the ruling party for allegedly plotting to assassinate the nonagenarian and engaging in corrupt activities.

Mujuru was now one of the leading opposition candidates poised to lead a coalition that would challenge Mugabe’s 37 year rule next year.

The former Zimbabwean vice president, who denied charges leveled against her, told News24 in an exclusive interview that Mugabe discouraged her to resign when she thought she had played her part in Zimbabwe’s national politics.

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